High School Musical: el desafío is a spin-off film to the High School Musical franchise. It is one of three feature film adaptations of a script written by Pablo Lago and Susana Cardozo and based on the book Battle of the Bands. The film stars the finalists of the Argentine reality television High School Musical: La Selección competition series, and features Andrea del Boca, Adriana Salonia, Peter McFarlane, and Liz Solari.

Principal photography commenced in February 2008, and is notable for being the first Disney-branded feature film made in Latin America. The film was developed for theatrical release in the Argentina market. Eight new songs have been produced exclusively for the film. In addition to these songs, Alejandro Lerner also composed the main theme, which he performed.

High School Musical: el desafío was released in Argentine theaters on July 17, 2008, reaching in its debut week second place in the national box-office charts.